James Mitchell said Charlotte City Council is unlikely to publicly outline its selection process until the first week of June.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ Mayor Vi Lyles is stepping down, and the city she’s leaving behind has no shortage of urgent business to sort out โ starting with who will replace her.
Lyles announced her resignation on Thursday. Her last day is June 30, giving Charlotte City Council fewer than two months to appoint a successor to fill the remaining year and a half of her term. That person must be a Democrat, but council members could look both inside and outside of government for a replacement.
Internal discussions have already begun. Multiple councilmembers told WCNC Charlotte said they would prefer someone from the community, rather than inside the council. This could mean a current state legislator in a safe General Assembly seat.ย
Several also said they would prefer a candidate who does not plan to seek a full term later on. Whether the council can reach a consensus on a single candidate remains unclear.
Mayor Pro Tem James Mitchell said the body would meet its deadline.
“I’m very confident that this city council, we’re made up of a lot of leaders, we will have a person in place for July one. I’m very confident in that,” Mitchell said.
Still, Mitchell said the council is unlikely to publicly outline its selection process until the first week of June โ in part because of the workload immediately ahead. The resignation comes as the council prepares for one of its busiest agendas in recent memory.
Monday’s meeting, the first full council session since Lyles’ announcement, includes scheduled discussions on both a proposed moratorium on data centers and the controversial Interstate 77 expansion project.ย
Lyles placed the data center moratorium item on the agenda last month after casting the tie-breaking vote to halt a public hearing on the potential pause. The moratorium would freeze new data center construction while city staff finalizes regulations covering water and energy usage, a process officials say could take up to six months.ย
Monday’s item is for discussion only, meaning no vote or public comment is scheduled. The following Monday, a public hearing is set on a proposed data center in east Charlotte.
Although Lyles is leaving, she will continue leading the city government through nearly two months of those decisions. But for community members watching closely, the bigger question is who comes next and what direction they’ll take.
“Who is about to write this next chapter in the history of Charlotte?” Greg Asciutto, executive director of CharlotteEAST, said. “Is it going to be the business and development community as they have done in the past 10 years? Or is it going to be longtime and new residents who are bearing some of the brunt of development decisions that have impacted them?”
An extended interview with Ascuitto is available on Flashpoint, streaming on the WCNC Charlotte app starting Sunday at 11 a.m. and on demand.
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